first birthday cake { grain & sugar free raw carrot }

Keeping in line with my elimination diet and because no one really needs sugar, I decided to make Olive a sugar free birthday cake. Even before committing to my diet I was planning to make her something sugar free.

After skimming some recipes online I found a few grain free and raw cakes that seemed perfect. Raw food is great because it’s still in its most natural form.. so none of the nutrients have been cooked out our altered. Grains aren’t really all that necessary for us to eat.. they’re pretty processed and don’t offer that many good things compared to something like fresh vegetables. I wouldn’t say they’re harmful but I don’t really think we need them.

So why not make a cake that is enjoyable and nutritious and not going to make a baby previously unexposed to sugar go crazy on already crazy day?!

I settled on a recipe from A Gluten-Free Vegan Mom Who Knows but I changed a few things and used a different frosting. Olive loved the cake and so did I. I loved it so much that I’m making it for my birthday in a couple of weeks! :) I can’t wait. And then I’m going to make one for… St. Patrick’s Day. And… Easter. And… Saturday. And… yep.

The original recipe calls for tahini. I didn’t want to buy a $9 jar of tahini so I used almond butter instead. I also did not include honey and I reduced the amount of walnuts (both due to Olive’s age).

I was going to put the mixture into a tart pan to mold it but, as you can see from the photos, it makes a rather small cake. It wasn’t nearly enough to fill the tart pan. It’s pretty moldable though so I hand made a circle on a small plate. And I let it chill until it was cake time.

(I’m impressed by my handmade cake circle)

And because it’s raw… viola! You’re done! :)

The frosting I made was not vegan. I didn’t follow the frosting recipe that accompanies the original cake recipe because I didn’t want to add to Olive’s nut intake that day and there were a few more things that I would need to buy. I went with a sugar free cream cheese frosting that I made up. Luckily it worked out because I didn’t test it.

Whip the butter and cream cheese together, preferably with a stand or hand mixer. Add vanilla and maple syrup until incorporated. Stick your finger in and enjoy. :) And then put whatever is left on the cake.

The frosting is a little difficult to spread without the cake getting stuck to it so I basically just globbed it on.

Olive spent about 30 minutes with her cake. She was pretty careful with it at first and eventually grabbed a handful. She also graciously fed some to me too. We enjoyed little bits of cake with our meals over the next few days.

What’s great about this cake is that we were able to eat it with our meals over the next few days.. :) It’s not like a sweet desert that we need to ration. We didn’t need to be careful about giving Olive too much sugar or something. It’s all yummy and healthy ingredients so I just put a little on her plate during lunch and dinner. :)